Hot Chocolate
by Nor of Kiamo Ko
Summary: It's the best part of those lonely winter nights. Hairspray oneshot. Fluffy Peaweed or Penweed, whichever you prefer. Proceed with caution: this will get a little sappy. Musicalverse.


**A/N: This was originally going to be part of another project I was doing, but since it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon, I decided to put it here. It's set a few months after the Miss Hairspray pageant, since I just now decided it was in the fall.**

**Hot Chocolate**

**By Nor of Kiamo Ko**

Penny finally reached the top of the fire escape and curled herself into a ball, trying to keep the last scrap of heat in her body from floating away into the darkness.

_It's two in the morning in January,_ _and you didn't even think to grab a _coatshe silently berated herself. _You're in for a lot of trouble if he doesn't wake up…_ She winced as she flexed her half-frozen fingers. _At least a pair of gloves would have been nice…_ She looked through the window into the room and saw with relief that there was a heavily sleeping lump in Seaweed's bed. Gritting her teeth, she forced her hand to fold into a fist and rapped a few times on the glass. _Please wake up, please wake up…_

It seemed like forever came and went before Seaweed finally rolled out of bed, rubbed his eyes, and saw Penny trembling in a fetal position outside his window. Even in her popsicle-esque state, Penny was able to appreciate his beauty. Sleep made him soft and vulnerable on top of all the normal, daytime things, and she had an irrepressible urge to hug him for reasons pertaining to things besides survival. Abruptly, she was aware of how she must look with dried-up, half-frozen tears clinging to her face, the skin on her knuckles cracked, and her hair going in every direction but down, and she stupidly reached up to smooth it.

The moment he realized she was there he sprang for the window, unlatched it, and took her into his arms, cradling her like a sick infant. She automatically snuggled closer to him, not even noticing that he was putting her in his bed until she was lying in the warm spot where he had been sleeping with the blankets tucked in all around her and her angel sitting on her feet to keep them warm.

"Problems with your momma?" he asked quietly.

She swallowed a few times, trying to warm up her vocal chords. Still, all she could manage was a brief, "Mm-hm."

"Was it about me?"

_I can't let him blame himself for this. _She shook her head. "Us."

He sighed and looked at her with concern. "Did she hurt you?"

Clearing her throat, she ordered herself to say more than one word. "Not badly. She used a rolled-up newspaper this time."

His eyes narrowed and he looked like he was about to say something, but then shut his eyes and took a deep breath. Silently he stretched himself out next to her and covered himself with the blanket, wrapping his arms around her waist as he settled in. Penny suddenly realized that Seaweed slept in his underwear, and wished that she could wear something a little less… _long_ to bed. Her mother had always forced her to wear ugly cotton nightgowns that went nearly down to her feet, and she had never thought to wish for anything different, since up until now no one outside the family ever saw her in her pajamas except the Turnblads.

But _now…_

"What is it, baby?"

She knew that her face must have been bright red by then, and went even redder when Seaweed caught on. "Nothing." To distract him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and wriggled a little to try and get the hem of the nightgown to come up at _least _to her knees. It worked; she reached around and nudged Seaweed's calf with her own, and felt comforting warmth against her skin. "Has anyone ever told you you're _very_ warm?"

He chuckled and squeezed her. "Not till now, sugar, but I'll take it." He lowered his hands a little and her heart leapt into her throat (which made for an unattractive mental picture, but felt _extremely _pleasant). She turned her face up for a kiss, but he just held her closer and whispered, "You need to sleep."

_I don't know if I can, with you this close to me…_

"Yes, you can."

She blushed. "I said that out loud?"

"Yeah." He yawned and rubbed her back. "Maybe this'll help." He leaned down close to her ear, and before she knew it, Seaweed was humming softly.

She groaned quietly and fought to stay awake, but the sound of his voice, the smell of his skin, and the warmth of his body all combined, finally requiring her to give in and drift off to sleep. In that moment before she was dead to the world, she drowsily compared him to hot Ovaltine: the best, sweetest thing to keep you warm in the wintertime.

**A/N: I hope that was not extraordinarily bad and/or cheesy. :) Please review.**


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